Combined scarifying and digging attachment for bulldozers



Jan. 5, 1954 J. P. WOODWARD COMBINED SCARIFYING AND DIGGING ATTACHMENT FOR BULLDOZERS 4 Sheets-Sheet l I Filed Feb. 1, 1952 INVENTOR JA M E s P. WOODWARD BY 5' W ma /)2 0m W277! ATTORNEY Jan. 5, 1954 J. P. wOobwARD COMBINED SCARIFYING AND DIGGING ATTACHMENT FOR BULLDOZERS Filed Feb. 1, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JA ts P Wooowmw BY -77Zauazqflmaoz Wm ATTORNEY Jan. 5, 1954 J. P. WOODWARD 2,664,651

COMBINED SCARIFYING AND DIGGING ATTACHMENT FOR BULLDOZEJRS Filed Feb. 1, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR JAMES P. Wooowmo Jan. 5, 1954 J. P. WOODWARD 2,664,651

COMBINED SCARIFYING AND DIGGING ATTACHMENT FOR BULLDOZERS Filed Feb. 1, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. 4. Elm-EH26 F|e.5. m

INVENTOR JAMES F. WOODWARD ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 5, 1954 OFFICE COMBINED SCARIFYING AND DIGGI NG.

ATTACHMENT FOR BULLDOZERS James P. Woodward, Prospect Plains, N. J

Application February 1, 1952, Serial No. 269,363

Claims.

I This invention relates to equipment for handling dirt and rock, and more particularly has reference to an assembly mountable upon the conventional mold board or blade structure of a bulldozer and adapted for removing large rocks, stones, and the like from the earth, the inventionbeing further adapted for use as a scarifier.

In the operation of bulldozers it is a common occurrence for the operator to encounter large stumps, rocks, and other objects which cannot be readily removed by the blade of the machine. In such instances it is often necessary that the grading or other work being performed be halted,

so that special equipment or a crew of laborers may remove the object encountered.

It will be readily appreciated that this represents an undesirable situation, in that unnecessary time and expense must be consumed before the work is resumed, and accordingly, the main object of the present invention is to provide means mountable upon the blade assembly of a conventional bulldozer which will be effective to remove stumps, rocks, and the like. Another important object is to provide an attachment as described which is operable by the bulldozer operator without the necessity of his calling upon other laborers or equipment for assistance.

Yet another important object is to provide a structure as described which, when not being used in removing stumps or rocks, can act in conjunction with the bulldozer blade, in scarifying the earth.

Still another important object is to provide a digging attachment, as stated, so designed as to remove large objects from the earth while still permitting the conjoint use of the bulldozer blade in filling the void left by removal of the object.

Still another important object is to provide a structure falling within the category referred to which will be hydraulically operated and will be be mountable directly upon the bulldozer blade assembly in such a manner as to permit the assembly to serve as a direct support for the digging mechanism, the construction being so designed as to cause the bulldozer blade to receive the force exerted during adjustment of the digging mechanism, thus to provide the leverage necessary to perform the operation with the last possible strain upon the tractor and other parts of the machine.

Described briefly, the invention includes a guide frame mounted directly upon the blade assembly of a bulldozer, and adapted to provide a trackway for a plurality of rollers mounted at oppo- Site ends of a stiffener frame assembly, that is extended transversely of the guide frame. Mounted upon the stiffener frame assembly is a series of digging tines which are adjustable upwardly or downwardly, due to the rollable mounting of the stiffener frame assembly upon the guide frame. Hydraulic means is operatively associated with the tines and stiffener frame assembly for elevating and lowering the same, the hydraulic means including cylinders mounted upon the stiffener frame assembly, and piston rods extending downwardly from the cylinders and connected at their lower ends to the blade assembly of the bulldozer, thus to effect vertical adjustment of the tines relative to the bulldozer blade assembly, responsive to retraction of the piston rods into their associated cylinders or extension of said rods from the cylinders.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claims appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure l he side elevational view of a conventionally formed bulldozer and of the attachment constituting the present invention;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view, the upper portions of the attachment being broken away;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 3--3 of Figure 1, illustrating the attachment as it appears when viewed from the rear;

Figure 4 is an enlarged side elevational view of the attachment constituting the present invention, and of a blade or mold board assembly on which the attachment is mounted;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on line 55 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is an end elevational vie-w of the stiffener frame assembly;

Figure 7 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 11 of Figure 2;

Figure 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 8--8 of Figure 2;

Figure 9 is a sectional view on line 9--9 of Figure 8; and

Figure 10 is a sectional view taken on line Ill-l0 of Figure 9.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the reference numeral ll designates generally a tractor or bulldozer of fairly conventional design having extended along opposite sides thereof the vertically adjustable blade-lifting arms [2.

At their front ends the arms 12 are secured to a mold board or blade assembly [4 provided (Figure 5) with a blade It.

All of this is conventional construction, and does not per se constitute part of the present 3 invention, the illustrated embodiment of a bulldozer being merely illustrative of one type of machine on which the present attachment may be readily mounted.

In accordance with the present invention, I mount fixedly upon opposite ends of the mold board or blade assembly angular support plates I8. These are fixedly connected in any suitable manner to the lower ends of vertical roller guides 29 which are preferably of channeled formation and extend upwardly an appreciable distance from the blade assembly. ,I

Contiguous to their upper ends, the roller guides 26 are fixedly secured to the upper ends of guide braces 22, these being angularlydisposed at opposite sides of the tractor H and being connected at 24 to intermediate portions of the blade lift arms !2. II

A cross brace 26 (Figure is fixedly secured at its opposite ends to the upper ends of the roller guides 2i], and cooperates with the roller guides in defining a rigid support frame that constitutes apart of the attachment and is of inverted U-shaped formation. The support frame referred to, as will be noted from the drawings and from the description so far supplied, is rigid with the blade assembly of the bulldozer, and thus is bodily adjusted upwardly 'or downwardly conjointly with the blade assembly. I I I provide as part of the present invention a stiffener frame assembly mounted for upward and downward adjustment upon and relative to the support frame. Thisassembly is provided at opposite ends thereof with end plates 28 spaced inwardly a short distance from the respective roller guides. I M

Secured fixedly to and projecting outwardly a nd laterally from the upper and lower ends of the respective end plates are roller support brackets 32, rollers 34 being rotatably journaled in said brackets and having rollable contact with the webs of the respective roller guides.

A stub shaft 36 is mounted upon the intermediate portion of each end plate and extends outwardly therefrom to provide a hub for an intermediate roller 38 arranged normally to the rollers 34 and disposed in rollable engagement with the respective side walls of the roller uides. I II I By reason of this construction, the stiffener frame assembly, which has been designated generally by thereference numeral 40, is mounted for up-an d-down movement in the support frame, and will be held against deviation from its proper position either laterally of the support frame or forwardly or rearwardly thereof.

The stiffener frame assembly extends transversely between the respective roller guides, and includes an upper stiffener frame 42 and a lower stiffener frame 44 (Figure '7), the upper stiffener framebeing spaced vertically of and above the lower stiffener frame. I I

As may be noted from Figure '7, each of the frames 42, 44 is of rectangular, cross-sectional configuration, and may be formed from a plurality of plates welded in edge-to-edge relationship. Alternatively, the frames 42 and 44 can be formed from channel material, it being mainly important that these frames be of rugged construction so as to be capable of taking the strain which would naturally be imposed upon the digging attachment during the normal use thereof. l

I provide between the upper and lower stiffen- 4 er frames a plurality of box-like, intermediate spacers 45 (Figures 2, 3 and '7), said spacers being spaced apart from one another, so as to permitthe upper end portions of a series of digging tines 48 to be disposed therebetween.

At their upper ends (Figure 5) the tines 48 are formed with rearwardly extended upper end portions 5d, the rear or free endsof which are integrally formed with depending hooks 52. Thus, the tines are supported upon the lower stiffener frame 44 by being hooked thereover, and when sosupported, will be spaced apart predetermined distances by the spacers 46 intervening therebetween.

At opposite ends of the series of intermediate spacers 45, end spacers 54 are interposed between the upper and lower stiffener frames, these being of rectangular cross-section and being proportioned to the same height and length as the intermediate spacers.

For the purpose of rigidly assembling the several components of the stiffener frame assembly, vertically disposed connecting bolts 56 are pro vided that extend through and rigidly connect the upper stiffener frame, spacers and lower stiffener frame. Thev bolts 56, further, are ef-' fective to attach the upper ends of the several tines fixedly to the stiffener frame assembly, and thus, lateral or vertical deviation of the tines relative to one another or to the stiffener frame assembly is precluded. I I v I lhe respective end plates 28, of course, are fixedly attached to opposite ends of the upper and lower stiffeners, bolts 5 1 being provided for this purpose (see Figure 6).

Referring to Figure 9, the upper edge of the lower stiffener frame 44 and the bottom edges of the respective end spacers 54 are formed with complementary semicircular openings defining bearings for a pair of oppositely extended stub shafts or trunnions 58 that are integral with a universal bearing ring 60. The universal bear ing rings 66 are disposed at opposite ends of the stiffener frame assembly, each ring being recessed for connection thereto of diametrically opposite bearing plates 62. The bearing plates 52 coact with their associated bearing rings to provide journals for diametrically opposite lugs 64 rigidly attached to the side wall of a hydraulic cylinder 66 provided at each end of the stiffener frame assembly. I I

As will be noted from Figure 9, the upper stiffenerframe 42 is formed in its top and bottom surfaces with openings 68 through which the respective cylinders 65 extend. The openin'g's 63 are formed to asomewhat greater diameter than the outer diameter of the cylinders, so as to permit a limited amount of universal movement of the cylinders within the stiffener frame assembly.

Projecting downwardly from the respective hydraulic cylinders 65 are rams or piston rods 10 that project downwardly through openings H formed in the lower stiifener frame 44. To permit the aforementioned universal movement of the cylinders, the openings H are of substantially greater diameter than the diameter of the respective piston rods.

At their lower ends the piston rods I'll are of ball formation, as at 72, the ball of each rod being received in a ball socket T4 fixedly mounted upon the upper edge of the blade or mold board assembly I 4.

It will be appreciated that the construction illustrated in Figures 9 and 10 provides a univrsal mounting for each of the cylinders 66, and while there is not a large amount of movement of the cylinders relative to the stiifener frame assembly, the universal mounting is desirable for the cylinders and forthe lower ends of the piston rods, since there is often 'a certain amount of loose play in a bulldozer blade assembly, and further, since play tends to develop between the roller guides and rollers. While the play is quite slight, any sudden shock .irn posed upon the structure would tend to bind. and distort the piston rods or jack shafts ill, and would cause excessive wear of the bushings of the hydraulic jack or cylinder, with jack failure thus becoming a definite possibility.

-In Figure 2, and also in Figure 5, I have illustrated a plurality of vertically arranged ribs it mounted upon the front surface of the bulldozer blade [6, said ribs being secured to .the blade in any suitable manner, as by welding or the like. The ribs it provide tracks for tine rollers '18, these being mounted upon the lower or free end portions of the several tines. As will be seen from Figure 2, a continuous tine roller shaft is extended through all the tines, a tine roller being mounted upon said shaft for rotation between each pair of adjacent tines.

Below the tine rollers 18 the several tines are formed with forwardly extended digging or lifting fingers 8B, which project forwardly of the bulldozer blade a substantial distance.

.-. From the above, it is to be noted that when ,lower limit of their travel, be disposed approximately afoot below the ground surface, and

would be movable vertically between the extreme limits of its travel a distance of approximately two feet.

To permit the operator of the bulldozer to efiect the necessary adjustments in the positions of the tines, a hydraulic system is employed that includes a control case 82 mounted at a location conveniently accessible to the bulldozer operator. The control case 8.2 has pivotally mounted thereon an operating lever 84 which is connected to a slidable plunger or control rod ,86 adapted to be reciprocated within the control case on swingable adjustment of the lever 84 to selected, predetermined positions.

The inner construction of the control case and of the plunger 86 has not been illustrated, since it is believed well within the skill of a mechanic in the art to provide the particular hydraulic control desired. t will be understood that the control case 82 would be filled with hydraulic fluid kept under a constant pressure by a suitable pump, which is connected to the control ,case through a pipe or manifold. lnteriorly, the case is provided with a series of ports which are adapted to be selectively aligned with a series of ports formed in the slidable plunger or con trol bar 86.

Thus, when the lever 84 is adjusted to a neutral position, selected ports in the control case will register with cooperating ports in .the control bar-86 to permit the hydraulic fluid 6" to be returned to a suitable reservoir through a line 88. a

Lines 98 and 92 also extend from they control case 82, the line 9i] being adapted to force fluid to the upper ends of the cylinders through branch lines 94 (Figure 3). The line 92 is adapted to convey fluid under pressure to the lower ends of the cylinders 65 through branch lines 96.

Thus, when the lever is in the forward position illustrated in Figure 1, ports in the control case will align with selected ports in the slidable plunger 86 to direct fluid under pressure through line 92 to the lower ends of the cylinders, while permitting fiuid to flow backwardly through the line as out of the upper ends of the cylinders.

When, however, the lever is shifted to a backward position, a reverse operation takes place, with fluid now flowing to the upper ends of the cylinders, while being exhausted from the lower ends thereof.

It will be readily appreciated that the bulldozer operator can simultaneously operate the digging means illustrated and the conventional blade-elevating or lowering mechanism of the machine. As a result, by adjusting the blade assembly is upwardly or downwardly, the operator is enabled to, bodily adjust the entire attachment upwardly or downwardly, as the case may be. Thereafter, with the blade assembly remaining at a selected elevation, the bulldozer operator can operate the control lever 84 to effeet up or down movement of the digging tines 48.

The adjustments of the bulldozer blade and of the digging tines can, as has been noted above. be effected simultaneously, and as a result, the digging tines can be utilized for lifting stumps, rocks and like objects from the soil while the bulldozer blade acts to fill the void left by removal of the object acted upon by the tines. A considerable amount of time and expense is thus saved, since the stumps and rocks can be removed from the earth simultaneously with the rough grading of the earth by the bulldozer blade.

It will be further noted that when the tines are not being used for removal of large objects from the soil, they can be adjusted to a selected position relative to the bulldozer blade, wherein they will coact with the blade in scarifying the earth, and otherwise prepare the earth for further grading.

Another important characteristic of the invention is believed to reside in its particular de sign wherein it can be preassembled as a separate attachment and mounted upon a previously manufactured, fairly conventional bulldozer without the necessity of extensive modification or redesign of the machine.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor changes in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with the blade assembly 0 an earth moving machine, said blade assembly including a blade having a lower cutting edge, a digging and scarifying attachment for said machine comprising an upstanding support frame including a pair of parallel roller guides rigidly connected at their lower ends to said blade assembly, 'a stiffener frame assembly formed as an elongated rigid body extending transversely between said guides and rollably mounted at its ends thereupon for adjustment vertically of the guides, a plurality of depending digging tines rigidly connected at their upper ends to the stineh'er frame assembly and having their lower ends projecting forwardly from the blade assembly, a series of ribs mounted on the blade assembly in parallelism with the tines, rollers carried by the tines in rollable contact with said ribs, said tines rolling upon said ribs conjointly with rollable movement of the stiffener frame assembly on the guides between opposite extreme positions in one of which the tines are elevated above the cutting edge of the blade and in the other of which the tines are disposed below said edge, and means connected at opposite ends to the blade assembly and stiffener frame assembly respectively and arranged for control by an operator for effecting said adjustment of the tines to selected positions relative to the support frame and blade assembly.

2. In combination with the blade assembly of an earth-moving machine, said blade assembly including a blade having a lower cutting edge, a digging and scarifying attachment for said machine comprising: an upstanding support frame including a pair of parallel roller guides rigidly connected at their lower ends to said blade assembly; a stiffener frame assembly formed as an elongated, rigid body extending transversely between said guides and reliably mounted at its I ends thereupon for adjustment vertically of the guides; a plurality of depending digging tines rigidly connected at their upper ends to the stiffener frame assembly and having their lower ends projecting forwardly from the blade assembly; a series of ribs mounted on the blade assembly in parallelism with the tines; rollers carried by the tines in rolla'ble contact with said ribs, said tines rolling upon said ribs conjointly with rollable movement of the stiffener frame assembly on the guides between opposite extreme positions in one of which the tines are elevated above the cutting edge of the blade, and in the other of which the tines are disposed below said edge; and hydraulic jacks connected at opposite ends to the blade assembly and stiffener frame assembly, respectively, and arranged for control by an operator for effecting said adjustment of the tines to selected positions relative to the support frame and blade assembly.

3, In combination with the blade assembly of an earth-moving machine, said blade assembly including a blade having a lower cutting edge, a digging and 'scai i'fying attachment for said machine comprising: an upstanding support frame including a pair of parallel roller guides con- .neoted at their lower ends to said blade-assembly and extending upwardly from the blade assembly; a stiffener frame assembly formed as an elong atcd, rigid body extending transversely between said guides and reliably mounted at its ends thereupon, said stiffener frame assembl including elongated, vertically spaced, horizontally disp'osedupperand lower stiffener framesof box-like cross-section, guide-contacting rollers on the ends of said frames, spacers interposed between and spaced longitudinally of the respective stiffe'ner frames to define tine-receiving openings, and means rigidly connecting the spacers and frames; a plurality of depending digging tines having their upper ends immovably engaged in said openings and having their lower ends projecting forwardly from the blade assembly; a series of ribs mounted on the blade assembly in parallelism with the tines; rollers carried by the tines in rollable contact with said ribs, said tines rolling upon the ribs conjointly with rollable movement of the stiffener frame assemblyon the guides between opposite extreme positions in one of which the tines are elevated above the cutting edge of the blade and in the other of which the tines are disposed below said edge; and hydraulic jacks connected at opposite ends to the blade assembly and stiffener frame assembly, respectively, and arranged for control by an operator for effecting said adjustment of the tines to selected positions relative to the support frame and blade assembly.

4. In combination with the blade assembly of an earth-moving machine, said blade assembly including a blade having a lower cutting edge, a digging and scarifying attachment for said machine comprising: an upstanding support frame including a pair of parallel roller guides connected at their lower ends to said blade assembly and extending upwardly from the blade assembly; a stiffener frame assembly formed as an elongated, rigid body extending transversely between said guides and rollably mounted at its ends thereupon, said stiffener frame assembly including elongated, vertically sspaced, horizontally disposed upper and lower stiffener frames of box-like cross-section, guide-contactingtrollers on the ends of said frame, spacers interposed between and spaced longitudinally .of the respective stiffener frames to define tine-receiving openings, and means rigidly connecting the spacers and frames; a plurality of depending digging tines having their upper ends immovably engaged in said openings and having their lower ends projecting forwardly from the blade assembly; a series of ribs mounted on the blade assembly in parallelism with the tines; rollers carried by the tines in rollable contact with said ribs, said tines rolling upon the ribs conjointly with rollable movement of the stiffener frame assembly on the guides between opposite extreme positions in one of which the tines are elevated'ab'ove the cutting edge of the blade and in the other of which the tines are disposed below said edge; and hydraulic jacks connected at opposite ends to the blade assembly and stiffener frame assembly. respectively, and arranged for control byan'operator for effecting said adjustment of the tines to selected positions relative to the support frame and blade assembly, said jacks respectively including cylinders universally mounted upon the stiffener frame assembly and piston rods slidably mounted in the cylinders and projecting below the cylinders, said piston rods being universally connected at their lower ends to the blade assembly.

5. In combination with a blade assembly of an earth-moving machine, said assemblyhaving a lower cutting edge and being approximately vertically disposed relative to the earth surface, a digging and scarifying attachment for said machine comprising: a support frame rigid with and extending upwardly from said assembly in "a paralleling said plane and mounted for up-anddown movement upon the blade assembly, said tines being shiftable on rollable adjustment of the stiifener frame within the support frame, between opposite extreme positions in one of which said lower ends of the tines are elevated above the cutting edge of the blade assembly, and in the other of which the lower ends of the tines are disposed below said cutting edge; and hydraulic jacks connected at opposite ends to the 10 blade assembly and stiffener frame assembly, respectively, and arranged for control by an operator for effecting said adjustment of the tines to selected positions relative to the support frame and blade assembly, said jacks respectively including cylinders universally mounted upon the stifiener frame assembly and piston rods slidably mounted in the cylinders and projecting below 10 the cylinders within said plane, said piston rods being universally connected at their lower ends to the blade assembly, the blade assembly constituting a fulcrum against which pressure is applied through said plane for transmitting leverage to the forwardly extended lower ends of the tines eil'ective for lifting of large objects from the earth into which said tines are shiftable.

- JAMES P. WOODWARD.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,244,505 Kincaid Oct. 30, 1917 1,924,572 Samuel Aug. 29. 1933 2,042,196 Senz May 26, 1936 2,421,472 Way June 3, 1947 

